Seektober 2022: emjay's good intentions

[emjay]

emjay's good intentions


Let's face it. I have the best intentions when it comes to making art. Not only is it my joy, but it's also my livelihood. But I also have shiny object syndrome and I have a difficult time finishing what I start. I get very excited about starting a project and I'm normally pretty ambitious about ideas and what I want to create. But before I'm halfway through something I have another exciting idea I want to try. And who can blame me? With all the amazing inspiration and creative ideas out there, there is always something I want to do next. And I'm often too impatient to wait, so I'm on to something else, intending to still finish what I started... maybe later. Couple my shiny object syndrome with all the things that keep me busy in a day, and... well.. all my unfinished artwork could fill a museum no one wants to visit.

......but I have good intentions.

This is my third year joining in on Seektober and I have yet to complete an entire month. But I am ambitious enough to think that this is the year!! I will once again work on the Aparecium challenge, completing whichever prompt that day speaks to me most. I might try to use my characters as inspiration and it's my intention to use pen and ink, maybe with a pop of color in another medium.

Let's do some art!

SPOILER!!: Aparecium Challenge

1. Vanish - Henry Whittebrook
2. Hatstall - Gunnar McCarthy
3. Frog Choir - Levi Glendower
4. Quidditch - Autumn Low
5. Page 394 - Karleigh Creed
6. Wizard's Chess- Phoenix Marchbanks
7. Teamwork - Hero Ramsey
8. Sherbet Lemon - Mariel Morgan De La Garza
9. Chocolate Frog Card - Wiley Whittebrook
10. Cauldron - Terra Keyes
11. Blood Pact - Kendra, Lynette, and Milo Jordan
12. Herbology - Celyn Ashburry-Hawthorne
13. Tabby Cat - Morgan McCarthy
14. Eccentric - Nessarose Glendower
15. Portrait - Ansley Finch
16. Cursed - Rhett Kavanaugh
17. Calm - Delaney Finnegan
18. Dragon - Xanthe Walker
19. Yellow - Ethan McCarthy
20. Hogwarts - Regina De La Garza
21. Flutterby Bush - Noémi Durand Upstead
22. Silver - Andi Rourke
23. Grey - Eivan Blaze
24. Duel - Nicolas d'Avignon
25. Ethereal - Hope Hamilton
26. Protective - Remington Marchbanks
27. Badger - Tashina Youngbird
28. Cupcake - Adele McCarthy
29. Lonely/Solitude - Viggo Bergstrand
30. Herbivicus- Raini Youngbird

[emjay]

Day 4: Quidditch
Minerva McGonagall
ink pen and colored pencil

SPOILER!!: Quidditch

With several of my characters heavily invested in Quidditch, I knew I had to do this prompt for my Aparecium challenge. Autumn Low graduated last term from Hogwarts and is currently in her rookie year as chaser for the Chudley Cannons. As the daughter of two former professional Quidditch players, she knew from an early age that she wanted to follow in their footsteps. She used to wear her dad's Cannons practice jersey around school, now she has one of her own.

[Felixir]

viva la shiny object syndrome and just for the record I would visit a museum of all your unfinished artwork. also your finished artwork.

love your first prompt ;; the splash of COLOUR. it's so obviously Autumn too (like, if you didn't have her name in it too of course) especially with her lovely hair. big fan of the depth and shading done in ink (and in the shirt *-*) and when I peeked in here earlier I had assumed the colour was done in marker or something it's so bold and vibrant, and only realised otherwise when I read properly just now. amazing. (autumn's problematic friend ezra enjoyed this prompt too.)

I'm really looking forward to seeing your other prompts and I am cheering u on because yes this is the year!

[FearlessLeader19]

EEEEEEeeeeeeeEEEEEE

MJ!!!

I am beyond thrilled that you did decide to go ahead with this thread! My fave thing about that piece up there is the colour used for Autumn's shirt and the inclusion of the Quaffle which lets us know exactly what position she plays, even to someone who isn't familiar with Autumn.

[Cassirin]

Oh, it's fun to sit for a while in MJ's brain. I love the simple line work with the pop of color. I could do a whole thread of those and never get tired.

[Suziella]

MJ! Amazing as usual. I love this so much! I love the way that you did the profile of her face. The eyelashes are perfect <3 Amazing job!! Can't wait to see more!

[Chelliephone]

This is amazing! I'm so impressed with the shading here and how it gave such dimension to Autumn! The pop of color really is fun too and I think it draws so much more attention to the word of the prompt.

[sweetpinkpixie]

I first was looking at your thread on my phone and when the image loaded it was just the top part of her head and well before I even got to her name on the back of her jersey a certain someone was very confident that this was an Autumn piece (he claims it is the eyelash and earlobe). I really like this style of one accent color and I think it would be a really fun additional parameter to help focus your Aparecium challenge

[ArianaBlack]

MJ, I always look forward to peeking into your seektober threads. I always love a character-inspired piece. The iconic Chudley Canons orange really draws the eye. I’m really taken by the way you draw curves and angles and folds. There’s just so much detail packed into this drawing. Every time I look at it I notice something different.

I’m so excited to see what else you have in store for us!

[emjay]

SPOILER!!: words of kindness

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

viva la shiny object syndrome and just for the record I would visit a museum of all your unfinished artwork. also your finished artwork.

love your first prompt ;; the splash of COLOUR. it's so obviously Autumn too (like, if you didn't have her name in it too of course) especially with her lovely hair. big fan of the depth and shading done in ink (and in the shirt *-*) and when I peeked in here earlier I had assumed the colour was done in marker or something it's so bold and vibrant, and only realised otherwise when I read properly just now. amazing. (autumn's problematic friend ezra enjoyed this prompt too.)

I'm really looking forward to seeing your other prompts and I am cheering u on because yes this is the year!

Oh you are too kind. I wouldn't even charge you admission.

Thank you! I thought the orange would be fitting since it's so recognizably the team color (and Autumn says "as he should"). It's three layers of colored pencil, two of it burnished, so that probably helps with the vibrancy. But I'm glad you like it.

And yes! This is the year! (who says I'm already behind?)

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

EEEEEEeeeeeeeEEEEEE

MJ!!!

I am beyond thrilled that you did decide to go ahead with this thread! My fave thing about that piece up there is the colour used for Autumn's shirt and the inclusion of the Quaffle which lets us know exactly what position she plays, even to someone who isn't familiar with Autumn.

Aww thank you! I never miss an opportunity to art, no matter how busy I am or how likely I am to never finish lol. I'm glad you could tell it's a quaffle haha, I tried to make that apparent with the shading. I'm glad I went with that color choice too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Oh, it's fun to sit for a while in MJ's brain. I love the simple line work with the pop of color. I could do a whole thread of those and never get tired.

Be careful, it's very cluttered in here. Thanks! With any luck, you'll get a whole thread of them in here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suziella

MJ! Amazing as usual. I love this so much! I love the way that you did the profile of her face. The eyelashes are perfect <3 Amazing job!! Can't wait to see more!

Thanks, Suzy! The profile made it a bit simpler to do her features but I suppose it made sense with her pose. I knew I didn't want to just do the back of her head.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chelliephone

This is amazing! I'm so impressed with the shading here and how it gave such dimension to Autumn! The pop of color really is fun too and I think it draws so much more attention to the word of the prompt.

Thanks, Chellie! Ink shading is a little tricky for me to get just right, so I'm glad you liked it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

I first was looking at your thread on my phone and when the image loaded it was just the top part of her head and well before I even got to her name on the back of her jersey a certain someone was very confident that this was an Autumn piece (he claims it is the eyelash and earlobe). I really like this style of one accent color and I think it would be a really fun additional parameter to help focus your Aparecium challenge

Lmao, she is very pleased that she is so recognizable (and she says he'd know better than anyone). Thanks, I can't get away from my colored pencils, it seems lol.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ArianaBlack

MJ, I always look forward to peeking into your seektober threads. I always love a character-inspired piece. The iconic Chudley Canons orange really draws the eye. I’m really taken by the way you draw curves and angles and folds. There’s just so much detail packed into this drawing. Every time I look at it I notice something different.

I’m so excited to see what else you have in store for us!

Thanks! Character inspired is my favorite too, so I hope I can continue with it through the month. It was important for me to make the shirt look realistic with the folds in the fabric, hopefully I achieved that.

Day 2: Hatstall
Minerva McGonagall
ink pen and colored pencil

SPOILER!!: hatstall

I don't know that many people know this but my character Gunnar McCarthy was a hatstall. The admin who sorted him when he was a first year told me he came up equally Ravenclaw and Slytherin, so I could choose between them. Of course my heart belongs with Ravenclaw, though I hadn't had an on site Slytherin yet and I wanted to do the house tour, but neither things swayed my decision much. Although I knew he possessed some Ravenclaw traits, I really thought he would fit better with Slytherin. And honestly, I can't see him as anything but a Slytherin.

I'm near certain I didn't write a sorting post for Gunnar, but this is how I would picture it. Baby Gunnar growing quietly impatient with the hat, silently imploring it to sort him already. Not sure if that I quite captured that with his expression as I think it looks more apprehensive than desperately holding on to his patience, but maybe it was a little of both anyway. Also, almost all of my characters on my Morgan family tree have green eyes except for Gunnar who has his mother's blue eyes, so I added some color there.

[FearlessLeader19]

N'awww precious baby Gunnar

Really, REALLY love how you captured his eyes, MJ! In addition, your work on The Sorting Hat is pure perfection.

[Cassirin]

Those big drama baby eyes are amazing. I do believe he'd sit there forever if required, but he is absolutely over it.

[Felixir]

I did not know baby blue-eyed slytherin gunnar was a hatstall (I think) (I'm pretty sure) but this makes a lot of sense. this is super neat and I love how you've used the pen strokes here, in all the different fabrics and the hat (which is also fabric I know, shhh). you've captured him and his baby 'get on with it, jeeez' expression wonderfully

also that sorting hat is

[BanaBatGirl]

Note to self: only come in here AFTER you've completed your own prompts

dang MJ, your drawings are STUNNING. I'm obsessed with that Sorting Hat. How. How do you do this.

[sweetpinkpixie]

how? No, for real. H O W?

Sketching and drawing with just straight ink/pen makes me so nervous and I cannot imagine doing something like this with all the shading and just...wow. Any tips for a nervous novice? I love the choice for color accents here with the eyes and hair as well - somehow draws my focus from that amazing Sorting Hat to ickle!Gunnar's face

[Emzily]

Wow, MJ… INCREDIBLE work! I’m always so impressed by ink pen drawings and yours are just lovely, with the perfect subtle add of colour on top, ugh I am in love.

[emjay]

SPOILER!!: <3

Quote:

Originally Posted by FearlessLeader19

N'awww precious baby Gunnar

Really, REALLY love how you captured his eyes, MJ! In addition, your work on The Sorting Hat is pure perfection.

Oh thank you! I wasn't sure about the eyes at first, but they are growing on me. Glad you like how the sorting hat turned out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Those big drama baby eyes are amazing. I do believe he'd sit there forever if required, but he is absolutely over it.

Thanks! Yes, he can be compliant if he needs to be, but it doesn't mean he has to like it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixir

I did not know baby blue-eyed slytherin gunnar was a hatstall (I think) (I'm pretty sure) but this makes a lot of sense. this is super neat and I love how you've used the pen strokes here, in all the different fabrics and the hat (which is also fabric I know, shhh). you've captured him and his baby 'get on with it, jeeez' expression wonderfully

also that sorting hat is

Yeah probably not. I don't think I told many, not because it was a secret, just because it never really came up. Until now XD And thank you! I'm pretty pleased with the way the hat turned out and I'm glad you think his expression reads that way. That's what I was going for and I was afraid it looked more tearful haha.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BanaBatGirl

Note to self: only come in here AFTER you've completed your own prompts

dang MJ, your drawings are STUNNING. I'm obsessed with that Sorting Hat. How. How do you do this.

I can't wait to see your completed prompts!

Thank you so much! You are too kind. I guess I just practice a lot. And then I have to teach it, so I pick up a few things here and there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetpinkpixie

how? No, for real. H O W?

Sketching and drawing with just straight ink/pen makes me so nervous and I cannot imagine doing something like this with all the shading and just...wow. Any tips for a nervous novice? I love the choice for color accents here with the eyes and hair as well - somehow draws my focus from that amazing Sorting Hat to ickle!Gunnar's face

You are really too kind, but thank you. And I do have some tips. I think ink shading works best when you have strong values and can play up those differences. It's a good idea to learn basic ink shading techniques. I show this video to my students when we start an ink drawing unit. I also drew this in pencil first and marked my value changes in pencil so I knew where I needed to be darker.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Emzily

Wow, MJ… INCREDIBLE work! I’m always so impressed by ink pen drawings and yours are just lovely, with the perfect subtle add of colour on top, ugh I am in love.

Aww, thanks so much! Ink is not my favorite medium to use, so I'm wanting to practice more. I'm hoping using primarily ink for these prompts will help me do that.

Day 3: Frog Choir
Filius Flitwick
ink pen and colored pencil

SPOILER!!: Frog.. Toad? Choir

When Levi Glendower was a young Ravenclaw, he had a toad that he called Smith. He thought Smith was a boy toad until he was surprised one day to see many, many tadpoles in Smith's terrarium, making him realize that Smith was a girl toad. I don't remember what exactly happened to these baby toads as this happened many IC years ago, but I like to think that at least one of these toads found its way to the frog choir. I know frogs and toads aren't the same thing, but a lot of them look the same to me, so maybe they looked the same to someone else who captured it for the choir. Idk.

I don't know if I really like the shading on this one, but it is about practicing the medium and techniques for me, and I at least got some value changes in there. To me the toad looks a little dead inside with those vacant eyes and maybe he is really just contemplating this life as part of the choir. He is clearly not a very good singer, as noted by the sour notes that I tried to replicate from comics I've seen in the past, but he is trying. The cushion is actually purple, though it shows up a little more blue in the picture, and it's meant to be similar to the ones the students hold them on - which I had a different image in my head of what the frog choir was, till I saw pictures of this at Universal, which makes more sense than what I thought lol.

[Suziella]

hatstall = gorgeous. his eyes are so beautiful!

and frog choir is just awesome. I love the cushion. It's just amazing!!!!

[emjay]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suziella

hatstall = gorgeous. his eyes are so beautiful!

and frog choir is just awesome. I love the cushion. It's just amazing!!!!

Thank you, Suzy

Day 5: Page 394
Severus Snape
Ink Pen and Colored Pencil

SPOILER!!: Page 394

The phrase Turn to Page 394 is so iconic and I always here it in Alan Rickman's voice. It brings up a pretty vivid image of that point in the film and even though Snape is actually subbing DADA, I can't help but to associate Snape with Potions. Although the actual page has meaning to it, the repeated phrase makes me think of being distracted in class and the teacher having to constantly repeat instructions to get certain students back on task. (Can you tell I teach middle school?) And that was the basis for my inspiration for this prompt.

This drawing depicts my character Karleigh Creed working on a potion that she had paired up with Benjee Marchbanks as a long term project. Though they were, and still are, friends, she also had a pretty big crush on him. Once he had a girlfriend, she knew she had to get over this crush, which proved a little difficult while working closely together over a project that took months. It was a little distracting to work on an advanced potion and work through mostly unreciprocated feelings at the same time, but she eventually managed. And she is really trying to concentrate here.

I am furious with these pens that smudged when I tried erasing some pencil lines, but shh you didn't see any smudges

[Cassirin]

Look at those little blips of potion leaping out of the cauldron! I love that detail so much, and her hair! I'm a huge fan of this doodle that is much more detailed than any doodle has a right to be!

And the frog looks like he's really going through something. I'm a fan of him, but he is experiencing some serious existential dread. Maybe he should join the swim team instead?

[PhoenixRising]

The details in these so far .... can you like teach an art class on SS one of these days, please??? Love your potions one and karleigh. But all of these are just amazing !!!

*Sets up camp here too*

[Suziella]

holy cow. That is so beautiful! I am so jealous of all of you art inclined people!

[emjay]

SPOILER!!: warm fuzzies

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cassirin

Look at those little blips of potion leaping out of the cauldron! I love that detail so much, and her hair! I'm a huge fan of this doodle that is much more detailed than any doodle has a right to be!

And the frog looks like he's really going through something. I'm a fan of him, but he is experiencing some serious existential dread. Maybe he should join the swim team instead?

Oh thank you! I do kind of like how her hair turned out. Hopefully you can tell that she's tried to tame her curls into a ponytail. One of the best hairstyles for potions. And yes, I think Smith Jr has considered leaving the Frog Choir for a better life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PhoenixRising

The details in these so far .... can you like teach an art class on SS one of these days, please??? Love your potions one and karleigh. But all of these are just amazing !!!

*Sets up camp here too*

Aww you're sweet. I suppose I could if people were actually interested in that XD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suziella

holy cow. That is so beautiful! I am so jealous of all of you art inclined people!

Thanks so much Suzy. But I think you are a pretty creative person too.

Day 1: Vanish
Minerva McGonagall
Ink Pen and Colored Pencil

SPOILER!!: Vanish

I know this one needs some explanation because a kitty in a box is not what one would normally expect to go along with the word vanish. I originally was going to go with the Day 1 prompt of Phoenix, but I couldn't think of much beyond just a phoenix and I thought that might be boring and wasn't character inspired. I do have a character named Phoenix, but I didn't want to just draw him - though I am working on a colored pencil portrait of him, but that is not for this. Anyway, when I paused on Vanish, it made me think of the time that Henry Whittebrook vanished.. and I decided to use that for my inspiration.

On Henry Whittebrook's 16th birthday, just as Charlotte Kettleburn gave him his birthday present, a chocolate brown and white kitten, a portal to another dimension opened up next to him and sucked him in, leaving a panicked girlfriend and confused kitten. I drew what remained after he vanished - a kitty in a wrapped box, with the lid askew.

[Cassirin]

I love that little kitten! The eyes are so good, and I feel like the colored pencil texture on the fur really makes it look so soft.

[Chelliephone]

Oh my goodness, these are all beautiful but I am particularly obsessed with the scene for Karleigh! The movement that you were able to capture and just the DETAILS in her hair and every where else! I cannot stop looking at it! Very excited to see more!